Device providing hot and cold storage and transport for food and the like

ABSTRACT

A food storage system allows at least one warm item and one cool item, especially foods to be stored and transported together. A housing with a closable internal volume receives at least one container for the cool items and one container form the warm items. In each of these containers, cool items and warm items are paired with a appropriate phase change material that either absorbs heat or emits heat. The items and the phase change materials can be separately contained.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a non-provisional of U.S. 61/789,606, filed 15 Mar. 2013, which is incorporated by reference as if fully recited herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to a device that allows the storage and transport of at least two materials, where one of the materials is to be maintained in a hot condition and the other material is to be maintained in a cold condition.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

Although the “lunch bucket” has a long and storied history among school children, miners and construction workers, the simple truth is that, for the most part, almost every effort in the past has been to contain the foodstuffs in the device while allowing them to seek an equilibrium temperature, that is, allowing the food to assume room temperature, albeit at a slowed rate.

One of the sole exceptions to this has been the lunch box with an accompanying THERMOS-type device for storing a warm liquid, such as a soup. Even the THERMOS-type device has its difficulties. In a classic joke, a customer sees a THERMOS-type device in a store and, impressed by its design, asks the clerk what it does. When told that it “keeps hot things hot and cold things cold,” the customer buys one. At work the next day, the customer proudly shows the device to a co-worker and tells the co-worker that it “keeps hot things hot and cold things cold.” The co-worker then asks, “Well, what do you have in it?” The proud owner of the THERMOS-type device tells the co-worker “I put two POPSICLES and a cup of coffee in there.”

The users of these “lunch bucket” products have often been consigned to using them by sheer necessity and not by desire. This is not a way to expand a market. As airlines, railroads, other transportation sources, and even institutional food services, reduce the intensity of the food services offered and as more workers would rather “pack their lunch” instead of “eating out,” the interest in keeping “hot things hot and cold things cold” is great, especially when the “things” are nutritious foods. It would be even greater to achieve this goal in an attractive and effective unitary package.

Confounding the issue is the interest in achieving this goal in an ecologically acceptable manner. This can have several aspects. In a first instance, it can serve as an ideal opportunity for a parent to provide a first-hand lesson in minimizing one's waste “footprint” for a child, even when waste disposal may be readily available. In other situations, however, as in the transportation industries and in situations where waste disposal is not readily available, there is a clear incentive to provide food that is not extensively pre-packaged with what quickly becomes waste.

Additionally, there is a need to be able to provide some semblance of home to deployed military that are being fed, not necessarily in the field, but in their encampments. Further applications may be found in institutional food service, as in hospitals, and in the travel industry, such as airlines and railroads.

It is therefore an unmet advantage of the prior art to provide a container device that can simultaneously keep warm materials warm and cool materials cool.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This and other unmet advantages are provided by a device for keeping at least one warm item warm while keeping at least one cool item cool, in a single housing. Such a device has a housing base with a main body and a lid, which is arranged for a sealing fit with the main body. The lid and main body co-act to provide the housing base with an internal volume. At least one internal body is sized and adapted to be seated in the internal volume. The internal body provides seating for a plurality of food container units and a plurality of thermal container units.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the disclosed embodiments will be obtained from a reading of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings wherein identical reference characters refer to identical parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the food storage device, in an assembled condition;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the FIG. 1 embodiment, shown in an exploded view;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation view from the front of the FIG. 1 embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pair of coordination containers in proximity to each other;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of a coordination container of FIG. 4 in isolation; and

FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of a second coordination container of FIG. 4 in isolation

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows, in assembled perspective view, an embodiment 10 of a device that allows material, especially foods, to be stored and transported, with warm or hot material generally retaining its heat and cool or cold material generally retaining its coolness. The device 10 has a housing base 20 that is clearly seen in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the housing base 20 has a main body 22, which provides a significant internal volume for receiving the other parts of the device 10 and a lid or top 24. In many embodiments, the lid or top 24 can be fastened to the main body 22 along one edge, with a zipper or similar device being used to close the internal volume. In other embodiments, the lid 24 (zippered or not) may be completely removable and other securing means, such as a flanged-type seal as used with TUPPERWARE® and similar devices may be used. In some embodiments, the lid may be interchangeable with similar lids, for either useful or ornamental purposes.

The housing base 20, including both the main body and the lid or top, will very preferably be assembled to insulate the contents. A variety of means are known, with a foamed poly(ethylene-vinyl acetate) (“PEVA”) insulative sheet being a particularly useful means. It is also particularly preferred to effectively laminate the PEVA material with a waterproof “skin,” which can be either a continuous web or a tightly woven material. The “skin” of this type can provide color and surfaces for ornamentation that the PEVA sheet does not provide. Depending upon the thickness of the insulative sheet, the housing base 20 may be relatively rigid on its own. Polyurethane material may also be desirable as a insulative sheet and polyurethane clearly provides a good material for the “skin.”

Further features that are seen in FIG. 1 will be described in the following features, but for the present, these can be indicated to be food containers 30 and a further internal body 40 in which the food containers are seated. The internal body 40 may well provide positions for placement of eating utensils 50, as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 depicts the device 10 of FIG. 1 in a perspective but exploded view that also depicts a manner in which the device may be sold in a kit form. The housing base 20 is again seen, exemplified by the main body 22, but the lid is not shown. Internal body 40, which is preferably formed from an insulating material (again, PEVA is a preferred material), is shown as being readily removed from the main body 22, especially for cleaning purposes. Internal body 40 will typically have ridges or the like that define seating areas for the other internal elements. Internal body 40 has a clear purpose of providing rigidity, as the food and thermal containers (as will be described) will usually have thinner walls that will not be as rigid. Internal body 40, especially if formed from a foamed material, will be coated with a “skin”, preferably polymeric, so that it can be cleaned.

FIG. 2 also shows four thermal containers 60, which is typical of a kit version of the product as it may be sold. Of these thermal containers 60, two “hot” containers 62 are intended for use in keeping items warm and two “cold” containers 64 are intended for use in keeping items cool. While the containers 62, 64 are shown to be of the same size and shape, in actual practice, it may be necessary to have one of the types be larger, in order to achieve the warming or cooling function, as will be explained. Each of the hot containers 62 has a body 66 and a lid 68. Each of the cold containers 64 has a body 70 and a lid 72. While not necessary, the lids 68, 72 and/or the bodies 66, 70 may be color-coded to designate their intended use. Each of the containers 62, 64 has an internal volume sized for receiving a mass, preferably sealed, of a phase change material. In the case of the cold container 64, the phase change material will preferably be a gel material that can be frozen in a freezer to a solid mass, with the material returning to a gel upon warming. In the case of the hot container 62, the phase change material will preferably be a solid mass that can be heated, as in an oven or a microwave, into a gel or liquid, with the material returning to a solid mass upon cooling. In some applications, the respective lids 68, 72 will be permanently attached to the container 66, 70, while in other applications, the lids will be removable, so that the appropriate phase change material can be inserted. Due to the potential use of the device 10 by children, there is a clear interest in keeping the phase change materials from being mistaken as a food item. To facilitate heat transfer between a thermal container 60 and its associated food container 30, at least the lids 68, 72 should be as thin as practical, while the hot and cold container bodies 66, 70 can be somewhat thicker, but even they should be readily amenable to heat transfer when preparing the thermal container for use.

FIG. 2 also shows a pair of food containers 30. Each has a food container body 32 and an associated lid 34. One of the food containers is shown as having an open internal volume, while the other has a internal volume divided into compartments 36. The lids 34 may be color-coded if desired. To facilitate heat transfer between the food container and a corresponding thermal container, it will be preferred to make the bottom surface of the of the food container conducive to heat transfer. This can be done by keeping the bottom as thin as practical and possibly by introducing shape features that will assist in heat transfer.

Most importantly, the food container bodies 32 and the corresponding lids 34 should be designed to be easily cleaned for reuse. They should also, to the extent possible, be designed to allow the internal contents to be readily viewed.

As also seen in FIG. 2, there may be additional containers that will be provided in a kit that would be sold commercially. For exemplary purposes, FIG. 2 shows a small drink container 52 and a dressing or condiment container 54. These are in addition to the utensils already illustrated in FIG. 1 and not shown in FIG. 2. These latter accessories 52, 54 are shown in FIG. 2 as being sized and adapted to fit inside one of the food container bodies 32. As depicted, the food containers 30 are generally of the same size and shape, regardless of their intended use with hot or cold foods, but this could change if the respective hot and cold thermal containers 62, 64 are differently sized and/or shaped. It is very important that the thermal and food containers interact well to achieve the intended transfer of heat.

FIG. 3 shows a front elevation view of the FIG. 1 embodiment, in section, to reveal some additional details of the invention. Specifically, this figure shows the insulation for the housing base 20. In the description provided above, there are three layers, with an interior layer 27 being the PEVA and a pair of exterior layers 28 that are polyurethane. In another variation of the insulation, the interior layer 27 can be an air cellular cushioning material, such as the material available from Sealed Air Corporation under the registered trademark BUBBLE WRAP. In another variation, the interior layer 27 it can be a composite of an air cellular cushioning material sandwiched between a pair of metal foils (preferably, aluminum foil). In either of these cases, the interior layer should be coated with the “skin” of the exterior layers 28, intended to provide ornamentation as well as easy cleaning.

A further feature shown in FIG. 3 is a variation on the treatment of the respective food and thermal containers 30, 60. In this variation, a coordination container 80, having a coordination container body 82 and a coordination container lid 84 are provided. The coordination container 80 is sized and adapted so that at least one thermal container 60 can be placed at the bottom of the coordination container body 82 and at least one food container 30 can be placed atop the at least one thermal container, after a coordination container lid 84.

While the operation of the coordination container 80 should be readily understood from FIG. 3, FIGS. 4 through 6 help to reinforce the teaching. FIG. 4 shows, in perspective view, a pair of coordination containers 80 that can be positioned adjacent to each other in the device, with one of the coordination containers 80 a set up to keep a material warm and the other coordination container 80 b set up to keep a material (or materials) cool. Specifically, FIG. 4 shows the coordination container 80 a having a hot container 62 with a single food container 30 and the coordination container 80 b having a cold container 64 with two food containers 30, as well as some open or free space. FIG. 5 shows the coordination container 80 a of FIG. 4 in side elevation view and FIG. 6 shows the coordination container 80 b of FIG. 4 in side elevation view.

Having shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, those skilled in the art will realize that many variations and modifications may be made to affect the described invention and still be within the scope of the claimed invention. Thus, many of the elements indicated above may be altered or replaced by different elements which will provide the same result and fall within the spirit of the claimed invention. It is the intention, therefore, to limit the invention only as indicated by the scope of the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for keeping at least one warm item warm while keeping at least one cool item cool, in a single housing, the device comprising: a housing base, comprising: a main body; and a lid, arranged for a sealing fit with the main body, the lid and main body co-acting to provide the housing base with an internal volume; a plurality of food container units; a plurality of thermal container units; and at least one internal body, sized and adapted to be seated in the internal volume, the internal body providing seating for a plurality of the food container units.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein: the housing base comprises at least one layer of a thermal insulation.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein: the layer of thermal insulation comprises a foamed poly(ethylene-vinyl acetate) (“PEVA”) insulative sheet.
 4. The device of claim 3, further comprising: a water-proof layer in which the thermal insulation layer is laminated
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein: each of the food container units comprises a food container body and a food container lid.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein: at least one of the at least one internal bodies comprises PEVA.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein: each of the plurality of thermal container units comprises a thermal container body and a thermal container lid.
 8. The device of claim 7, further comprising: a packaged amount of a material that undergoes a phase change between a solid state and a liquid or gel state.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein: the packaged phase change material absorbs thermal energy when changing from solid state to the liquid or gel state and releases thermal energy when changing from the liquid or gel state to the solid state.
 10. The device of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of coordination container units, each coordination container unit sized and adapted to contain at least one food container unit and at least one thermal container unit.
 11. The device of claim 10, wherein: each of the plurality of coordination container units comprises a coordination container body and a coordination container lid. 